


Keeping Up Appearances

by keelywolfe



Series: by any other name [64]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Possible Illness, Implied Sexual Content, Light Angst, M/M, Mentions of Chickens, Spicyhoney - Freeform, Underfell Papyrus (Undertale), Underswap Papyrus (Undertale), papcest - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-15 04:50:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18491716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keelywolfe/pseuds/keelywolfe
Summary: Compromise was the stepping stone of a good marriage





	Keeping Up Appearances

* * *

Stretch teased Edge sometimes about spoiling him. It was true that he enjoyed doing things for him, Edge couldn’t deny that. Whether it was a gift or making plans to take him places didn’t matter, and if doing things to make his husband smile was considered spoiling him, Edge would be content to continue for the rest of their lives.

For example, getting him a chicken. Or three.

His intentions when he'd gotten the chickens were nothing more complex than giving Stretch a pet. Once Edge did the research and learned they were relatively simple to care for, the decision was made. If he were honest, Edge had fully expected to take over their care within a month and was pleasantly surprised when Stretch stayed diligent. His impulsive gift had been a far better choice for his husband than he could have ever guessed.

Having something he could care for with relatively little pressure involved did Stretch a world of good and it always warmed Edge’s soul to see him with his little brood. Whether he was watching them in the yard or something more strangely creative, like dressing them in costumes, Stretch’s delight was Edge’s, always. 

The eggs were something of a practical afterthought. At the beginning, he'd been more concerned with getting the type of chickens that would be best as pets, and when he'd learned there were breeds that laid colored eggs, his choice had been made. 

As he was learning, the amount of eggs three small chickens could provide at the peak of their laying could be a challenge. Edge liked to think he was up to the task and thus far he hadn't wasted a single one. At least one night a week he made omelets to help deal with the overabundance. 

Simple, quick, and delicious, easy to doctor the ingredients based on what was in the refrigerator, plus Stretch liked them. A win-win, all the way around. 

Tonight, Edge sautéed mushrooms in butter and white wine, adding garlic, and then the eggs. He added a sprinkle of cheese and when it was just melting, he pulled the pan from the heat, carefully folding it onto the plate. A second omelet took only a couple minutes and the first was still steaming when he carried the plates out to the living room. 

There he faced his first conundrum of the night; where to put them. 

The coffee table was currently covered with papers. There were notebooks, diagrams, scraps of paper covered in equations written in Stretch’s messy handwriting in a kaleidoscope of ink colors. Stretch was sitting in the floor pouring over them. He barely even glancing up as Edge walked over to him, chewing on the end of a purple pen.

Distractedly, he took the plate from Edge, mumbling a thank you before shoveling a bite into his mouth.

Well, at least he was eating food instead of writing utensils. Edge sat in the armchair with his own plate, eating silently as he watched Stretch work.

This was an effect of moving the lab equipment to their basement that Edge hadn’t anticipated. It was slowly leaking upstairs. Not that he could complain, he often brought his own work home. But then, he didn’t need the rest that Stretch did. Four or five hours a night suited him fine, while Stretch really needed a more traditional eight, nine if he could. 

Stretch also should have taken a nap that afternoon and it didn’t seem as if he had. He looked tired. There were visible shadows beneath his sockets and usually if Edge sat there long enough, he would start explaining what he was doing. It was almost an automatic response these days and Edge always listened, whether or not he understood.

Today, Stretch only set his empty plate on the least cluttered corner of the table and kept writing. He didn’t seem as if he was truly working now, doodling in the margins, misshapen spirals and geometric shapes with uneven lines. But then, for all Edge knew it was another scientific language, it wasn’t like anything else on those pages made sense to him.

Almost, Edge asked him what he was working on. It would get him talking, if only to shut Edge down, and normally he would. If only Stretch didn’t look so _tired_.

The fatigue wasn’t completely abnormal; it was a simple fact of having low HP. On the rare occasions Stretch worked himself to exhaustion, he always made up for it afterward by sleeping in the next few days.

Edge shouldn’t be worried. And yet—

The pen was abandoned and now Stretch was absently folding a scrap of paper, crisp lines slowly forming into one of his creations.

He couldn’t be sure what, but something was clearly bothering Stretch. His work, an oncoming depressive episode, perhaps even illness. Something was clearly out of the normal.

Well, there was no point in dancing around it. 

“Are you feeling all right?” Edge asked bluntly.

“i’m fine,” Stretch said, shortly. Nothing else, not so much a smile or wincingly sharp sarcasm. Which could mean that he was perfectly fine, or that he was definitely was not but didn’t want to talk about it.

Irritating to not know which. It was life with Stretch in a nutshell.

The paper he was folding slowly came into focus as a little rabbit. It was carefully set upright and with a flick of Stretch’s finger, it jumped across the table. Edge watched, considering his options.

He could either push it and risk actually angering Stretch or he could let it go and trust that if anything were wrong, Stretch would tell him. Neither choice was sitting very well with him.

He settled for leaning down to press a kiss against the top of Stretch’s skull. If he happened to mentally gauge his husband’s temperature when he did it, he could hardly be blamed for that.

From the suspicious look Stretch gave him, he was not fooled. That he hooked a finger in the collar of Edge’s shirt and pulled him down for a real kiss was more encouraging.

“i’m going to be down at the embassy tomorrow,” Stretch murmured when he drew away, still close enough that Edge could feel the warmth of his breath. “did you want to have lunch?”

“What are you doing at the Embassy?” He made a point of not reminding him of his promise to shortcut in to avoid the protesters, despite his inner voice howling for it. Stretch was an adult and he was highly unlikely to forget a promise. 

Stretch shrugged. “sans asked me to come down. he and alphys are working on something, and he wanted a third opinion.”

“Hm.” Edge decided not to ask. Much as he loved listening to Stretch’s excited chatter, past experience taught him that Alphys’s work was even more incomprehensible than Stretch’s. “Yes, we could meet for lunch.”

“good.” Stretch kissed him again before asking with deliberate sultry warmth. “welp, i’m finished for the night. you done with work?” 

Even a fool would understand that implication and Edge liked to consider himself above average. He was a little torn. He always wanted to be with Stretch and sex definitely held more appeal than dishes.

But he looked _tired_ and Edge wasn’t entirely convinced that this wasn’t a ploy to take his mind off that fact.

Compromise was the stepping stone of a good marriage, he decided.

“I am. Let me do something for you?”

That took him aback. “uh, sure?”

Stretch’s uncertainty only grew as Edge slid down to the floor, pushing him gently to lay back as he settled between his legs. He slithered downward, dragging Stretch’s shorts down with him and soon, any doubts were alleviated. 

Hands scrabbled against Edge’s skull, thin fingers unable to find purchase, and he didn’t quite bring Stretch to the point of begging, though it was close. Stretch didn’t last ten minutes but Edge liked to think they were a _good_ ten minutes. Certainly Stretch’s whimpered praises gave that impression.

When Edge crawled back up the length of his limp body, wiping his mouth carelessly on his sleeve, Stretch only barely managed a drowsy kiss at first. He roused a little soon enough, hands sliding down Edge’s rib cage.

“let me—" Edge didn’t stop Stretch from pressing a hand between his own legs, watched him frown at what he found. Well, Stretch wasn’t the only one who’d thought it was a very good ten minutes.

It did mean that was Edge was going to end up doing laundry before bed, and it was a good thing magic didn’t leave permanent stains. But it also meant Stretch wouldn’t have to exhaust himself further trying to reciprocate. 

“like going down on me that much?” Stretch asked impishly.

“Yes,” Edge told him honestly. The proof was obvious and still damp.

It made a blush rise in Stretch’s face, dusting his cheekbones. That soft orange was lovely, unlike the darker stains beneath his sockets. Stretch didn’t flinch when Edge cupped his face and rubbed a thumb over those shadows, but he did sigh, relenting.

“okay, okay,” Stretch grumbled. “listen, maybe you’re right, i am pretty tired. i’ll head up to bed and you can wander up whenever you want, yeah?”

Edge rolled off him and to his feet, holding out a hand to help Stretch to his. “Do you want me to tuck you in?”

Stretch clasped his hands to his face and batted his non-existent eyelashes. “aw, would you, mama bear? read me a story, get me a glass of water—" 

“Spank your ass.”

“kinky. yeah, if you wanna cuddle in the afterglow a little bit, you can come up.” 

Stretch started upstairs, blowing him a kiss from the landing and he only waiting long enough for Edge to pretend to catch it before turning away. He didn’t see the way Edge pressed his hand to his mouth, adding his own kiss. 

Edge didn’t care. The act wasn’t only for his husband’s benefit.

He did take a moment to clear away the dinner dishes, pausing at the linen closet to pull out an extra blanket in case Stretch was feeling colder than usual.

He passed the coffee table on his way up and paused. The little paper rabbit was sitting on top of the paperwork, poised for another leap amidst the multi-colored scrawls.

Edge picked it up and tucked it into his pocket before following Stretch up. It wouldn’t take him long to fall asleep, Edge hoped, and Edge could stay a while and make sure he was settled.

His love needed his rest.

-finis-


End file.
